Zack's Adventures The sequel
by IheartItaly
Summary: The final chapter to the 'Zack's Adventures' series. On the run from the SHINRA army, Zack remembers a friend from his childhood. In the end, he comes face to face with him.


Zack's Adventures sequel: Pepper the Brave

Zack dragged Cloud. The SHINRA army was close. Cloud was unable to move because he had a sickness called Mako Addiction. Zack was trying to find a place to hide. Suddenly he heard barking and howling from the distance.

"#$ *, they have dogs hunting me down." Zack found a cave, "We can hide in here." He told Cloud. Zack had a memory come back to him when he was younger.

Fourteen year-old Zack walked down an ally swinging his sword around practicing. He heard something moving around in the trash behind him. Zack walked over to the sound. He figured it would be a rat or something. But it wasn't a rat. Zack found a puppy looking up at him. It was a German Shepherd. Zack saw the puppy's leg was trapped in a bed spring.

"It's OK, boy. I'll help you." He said picking up the puppy. The puppy stayed still while Zack gently took off the spring. Zack was surprised the pup actually sat still. He pat the puppy then set him down.

"There ya go. Be careful out there." Zack said. He started walking away, but he noticed the puppy was following him. Zack smiled.

"Sorry, boy. I can't take you back with me. It could coast my job." Zack walked away whistling. The puppy followed. Then a bigger dog came out and attacked the puppy! Zack pulled out his sword.

"You monster! Stay away from him!" Zack said chasing the dog off, "And let that be a lessen for you!" Zack pat the puppy. The puppy licked Zack's chin.

"I can't bring you back to SOLDIER, but I can't let you stay alone out here anyway. Hmm, looks like you haven't been eating lately."

Zack looked both ways before returning to his room. The puppy whimpered.

"Shh!" Zack told him, "you have to be quiet or we'll get caught."

"Who are you talking to, Zack?" Zack froze. He saw Angeal standing behind him.

"Drat, I'm busted!" Zack said to himself.

"You've returned late. It's almost curfew." Zack had to come up with an excuse quick.

"Um, I forgot to clock out for the day."

"hmmm." Zack went in his room and closed the door before Angeal could ask anymore questions.

"Whew, that was close. You stink. You need a bath." Zack said as he filled the tub with water.

Zack figured the pup won't mind having a bath. After all, he did sit still when Zack helped him earlier. But the pup gave Zack a different story. He squirmed around and made a fuss. A few times he got lost in the soupy water. Soon the pup was clean, but Zack was drenched.

"Guess we both needed at bath." Zack chuckled as he grabbed a towel and dried the pup off.

Zack heard the door open in the other room. Drat, he forgot about his teammates, Alex and Kunsel. The pup licked Zack's hand. Zack thought about it. His friends never did tell anyone about his secrets. But sometimes they disagreed. He figured his friends would find out anyway.

"Hi, Guys!" Zack said behind the door.

"Zack, there you are. We've been looking for you. Do you know what time it is?" Alex said.

"Yeah, its curfew, I know. Um, I have a surprise. But you have to promise not to tell Angeal or anybody about it." Zack heard Alex sigh a hopeless one.

"What is it?" Zack opened the door and showed them the pup. Kunsel smiled.

"Aww, he's cute. Where did you get him?"

"You mean 'what's he doing here?'. Zack, you know you can't keep a puppy. Pets aren't allowed." Alex said.

"I know, but I couldn't leave him alone out there. Plus he hasn't been eating."

"So he's a stray. Greeeeaaaaaaat." Alex said sarcastic.

"Come on, Alex. We can't just throw him out in the cold." Kunsel said.

"It's warm outside. But even if we kept him, don't you think Angeal will find out? I'm sorry, Zack, we can't keep him." Zack understood.

"I'll get up early tomorrow and take him to the shelter."

Zack woke up as the pup licked his face. He smiled, but saw Angeal standing above him with a frown on his face. Zack shot up. He thought about hiding the pup, but Angeal has already seen him. Zack hung his head.

"Good morning, Sir."

"Zack, what are you doing with a dog?"

"I found him yesterday. But don't take him away, he's helpless alone." Zack begged, "Where are Alex and Kunsel?"

"I sent them to train. You should be training too, not worrying about a puppy." Angeal said.

"Please let me keep him."

"No. Give him to the infantry. They always need dogs to train-"

"Please, Angeal. I promise I'll feed him, play with him, train him, and clean after him. I'll even pay for him. Please let me keep him. I'll train him on my brakes." Zack begged.

"Well, alright. But if I find your training is neglected. Or if the pup's is neglect-" Angeal started. Zack hugged him.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" Zack said happily. Angeal pushed him away. Zack ran out the door with the pup.

"Great, another puppy." Angeal smiled. But it fell, "What will I tell Lizard?"

"Hmm, what should I name you?" Zack said. He saw Massashi and his friends talking to each other close by. Zack thought about going the other way, but he figured there were other SOLDIERS.

"Sorry, Boy. But I have to do this." Zack said as he stuffed the pup in his shirt. He walked by the threesome.

"Hi, Zack. Did you grow a manly chest or something?" Zack stopped. Missashi and his friends were looking at him.

"Uh, yeah!" Zack said nervously. The puppy tried squirming around, but Zack stopped him.

"No way! In just one night!?" Asked the other. Zack nodded and walked away.

"Hmm, I don't think that's Zack's chest. I think he's trying to hide something." Missashi said.

"Like what? Another baby dragon?" The first laughed. Missashi punched him.

"Shut up! I didn't imagine it. Zack did have a pet dragon." He gave Zack a suspicious look.

"Why are you always after Zack anyway?" Asked the second.

"That's none of your business." Missashi said.

Zack decided to name the puppy Pepper. While he was plying with the puppy, the room flashed. Zack looked up and saw Missashi holding a digital camera.

"Missashi, no!" Zack said as he leaped to get the camera. Massashi held Zack back and had an evil smirk on his face. Zack knew it was the face of trouble.

"I wonder, who could I show this to?" Missashi said, "Maybe the Director? And then you'll get kicked out!" Zack wrestled with Massashi, hoping he could break it or take it away from Missashi. Zack grabbed the camera just as Missashi kicked him off. Massashi ran away laughing. The last thing Zack wanted was Missashi telling on him. So far, pepper was a secret, and Zack didn't want rumors going around that he had a secret puppy. He ran after Massashi, but couldn't find him.

"Drat!" Zack said.

Zack was allowed {by the Director} to keep the puppy until it could take care of itself. He then would have to give it to the infantry. But when the time came, it was difficult to give Pepper up. He reluctantly gave him to the captain.

"A dog? Well, alright, but I thought SOLDIERS were not allowed to care for pets?"

"I took care of him. I was given permission until he could take care of himself. Please, take care of him." Zack said as he turned away without looking Pepper in the eye. That was the last time Zack saw Pepper.

Zack came out of his old memory when a growl erupted from the mouth of the cave. Zack looked up and frond a German Shepherd glaring at him from the cave's entrance. Zack's mind started to race. If a dog was here it meant the SHINRA army was close, and if they found Zack and Cloud...

Zack tried moving slowly off the ground with Cloud in tow. Zack was certain that the dog would attack him. The dog stopped growling and perked up it's ears in a friendly way. Then it wagged it's tail happily and walked up to Zack. Zack froze, not sure what to do. But the dog whimpered happily as it licked Zack's hand. Zack was relived when the dog wasn't mad at him anymore. It did seem odd, though, why would a SHINRA army dog be all friendly with a fugitive? Zack noticed the dog's name tag read 'Pepper' on it. Then Zack realized it was his old friend from years ago.

"Pepper? What are you doing here?" Zack said as he was somehow able to manage a smile. Zack heard the army coming. He picked up Cloud and ran away. The SHINRA arm saw Zack and they loaded their guns. But before they could fire at Zack, Pepper attacked the captain. The captain cursed and tried to shake Pepper off, but to no avail. One of the infantry men shot Pepper and went to his captain's rescue. Zack was out of range, which made the captain angry.

"Circle around to the river," He demanded, "well catch them before they reach the other side." The army left to do what their captain ordered.

Zack looked back as he heard the gunshot. He saw Pepper dead. He wanted to go back to Pepper, but he dared not risk it with the army so close.

"Pepper, thank you." Zack said to himself as fought back tears, and he ran away. Pepper had proven himself to be, Pepper the Brave.

The End

{I enjoyed reading the series and I hope you did too. I started writing Zack's Adventures back on May 14th 2011. I now have finished the series and now it's the 4th of January 2013! Zack is one of my favorite characters of Final Fantasy 7, so I like to write about him. I love the Crisis Core video game, and I loved Zack sense then. But as I started playing Crisis Core a few times, I noticed that they mentioned things that I wondered about {e.g., Sebastian and Essai. I don't know if they really ARE brothers, but I decided to make it that way. "Zack, I'm sorry. Our dealings with AVALANCHE have become too severe." Tseng said to Zack in one of Zack's memories at Sebastian and Essai's graves. "Don't be." Said Zack, "In the end, they came to their senses and did the right thing." Then Zack bowed his head, "We're doing alright on our side, so you just rest easy. See you later." Then they leave} That was when I decided to make Zack's Adventures, back before the Genesis Invasion on SHINRA, when Zack was still a kid. I thought a lot on the series and I decided to make Zack have a rival. That was Missashi. I thought I did pretty well with Massahi, considering he was a character I made up. But then I came to volume 6, when Massashi and Zack had to worked together. I planed on having Missahi, in the end, become Zack's friend. Then I thought, 'Wait, I don't want Massahi to be his friend just yet', so I made him become Zack's friend in volume 9. When I began the series, I thought about Pepper. I wondered if I should make that story when Zack found him and raise him. At first, I didn't write the story because I thought it would be kinda dumb. Then I gave in and decided to do it. I thought that Pepper should defend Zack from a dog that had rabies, but I decided to make him rescue Zack from the SHINRA army instead. If I did it the other way, Zack would have to kill Pepper with his own hands. {I can't let Zack do that to his friend, right? So I decided to change the idea}In volume10, I wanted it to be focused on Sebastian and Essai and their dealings with AVALANCHE. I wasn't sure how I would get to the part where the brothers died, but I was finally able to finish. My favorite part is when Tseng warns Zack about the Genesis Invasion. "Your about to be part of a conflict that could change your life." With volumes 7 and 8, I didn't have an idea about what to do until my sisters gave me some ideas. It has been long, but I'm glad that I was able to finish one to eleven stories of Zack's past. I thank you for sticking with me to the end. :) ! My favorite stories were volumes 1,3, 7,8, 10, and 11. I like all of them, but I think those were my favorites.


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